This Friday we will be having a Hut Day from 11am onwards. The children have formed groups of 4 or 5 across the hub, and are in the process of planning and designing their hut, a letter box and hut rules etc. Your child will come home with a list of items that they may need in order to build their hut (e.g. old sheets, string, pegs). The children have been reminded to ask for your permission before taking anything to school! The items will need to come to school on Friday, and will come back home the same day. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child's home group teacher. Thanks for your support.
If you sent your child to camp last week with some personal medication, we are holding all of this medication in the hub. Please come and collect it from us before or after school any day this week.
It's all go for camp tomorrow! Just a couple of important reminders:
We will be walking into camp - rain or shine! If there are very cold winds we will not take the Sign of the Bellbird route as it is very exposed. We will, instead, walk the coastal route from Governor's Bay. Please send your child to school with warm layers, a waterproof jacket, sensible walking shoes and it may be worth popping a spare pair of socks into their backpack in case they get wet feet.
Please have your child at school with their overnight bag and daypack by 8.30am at the latest so we can complete the roll. We need sufficient time to complete all of our preparations and load the buses. We appreciate your support with this.
We are all very excited and are looking forward to a fun and safe Living Springs adventure!
Kia ora whānau,
We will be leaving for camp next Wednesday November 25th. Please have your child at school with all of their named gear in their overnight bag, plus their day pack containing lunch, a drink bottle, morning tea, sun hat and a windproof / waterproof jacket by 8.30am at the latest so we can complete the roll. Please also remember that any medication that is needed by your child during the day (e.g. asthma inhalers) can be stored in your child's day pack. All other medication that will be administered to your child in the morning or evening whilst on camp must be handed to Anne Batchelor in a named plastic bag or container on Wednesday morning. All medication handed to Anne for administration on camp must have a Medical Authority form completed for it. Anne will print these off and store them with your child's medication. If you have not yet completed a medical authority form for your child's medication, please do so immediately and email Anne at anne.batchelor@beckenham.school.nz to let her know that you have since completed a form.
We are also in search of some ice cream containers with lids to take on the bus with us, in case of travel sickness. If you have any spare containers at home, we would greatly appreciate it if you could send them in to school ASAP.
Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto has an optional Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programme for students in Years 5-8. This programme is very popular and has been in operation since 2014. If you want to find out more about our BYOD programme including the rationale, digital citizenship practices and device responsibilities, please visit our BYOD website or come along to our information evening on Wednesday, 18 November from 7-8 pm, in the Kōwhai Hub. If you plan to attend this meeting, please RSVP here.
The evening is optional and is aimed particularly at parents of current Year 4-7 students who are considering taking up BYOD next year but have not yet made the decision. The information evening will give you a chance to hear about our BYOD programme and ask questions about how it works.
We generally recommend that families who want to participate in the BYOD programme purchase a Chromebook for their child to bring school. We are currently changing our BYOD provider and will send out a Chromebook offer, with prices, closer to the end of the year.
With the introduction of the new Digital Technologies strand of the Technology Curriculum this year, ensuring that every child has access to a device becomes more important than ever before.
Kia ora whanau,
This is a reminder that our Health Profile and Consent Form needs to be completed by this coming Monday, November 2nd 2020. Many thanks to the 60+ families who have already completed this form. One form needs to be completed for each child who is attending camp. This contains important information which allows us to support the children and their health needs while we are away at Living Springs.
Please click here to complete the form
If your child requires personalised medication while on camp, please also complete a Medicine Authority Form here.
If you have any questions, please email anne.batchelor@beckenham.school.nz
Kia ora koutou,
The Canterbury Triathlon is an awesome event for children who have a good level of fitness and are after a challenge. We are restricted to the number of entries that we can make and these will be done on a first come first-served basis. Entries close on the 16th of November.
This year, the event has a new venue at a private property close to Clarkville and will be held on Wednesday the 25th of November. Please note, the swim component is in a lake therefore it is very important that children are confident and capable swimmers.
Due to the small numbers of children who compete in this event, we are unable to send a teacher to this event. Transportation and supervision of the children need to be arranged by each whānau.
We are also required to provide an adult for set up or pack down in addition to marshaling duties. This person must be free of any responsibility to children at the event. Please indicate on the entry form if you are available to marshal.
More information on this event can be found on the following link.
https://www.sporty.co.nz/asset/downloadasset?id=576e24b0-7b85-4450-97cc-2357821c4990Entry form click here
Whole School Athletics - This Friday the 27th of October
Be Sun Smart The events for Year 5 to 8 run all day. It is really important that your child has their sun hat and has sunscreen on from the beginning of the day. We will have sunscreen at school for them to reapply throughout the day.
Uniform Children may choose to wear their house shirt or their red polo. They may wear their choice of leggings/shorts. Black is preferred. Please make sure that children come to school in footwear appropriate fors sports, (running shoes are ideal).
Parent Help We are still looking for parent help for Friday. Please email Jenny if you are available.
Zone Athletics Zone athletics is held at Hansen’s Park on Monday the 9th of November. The children representing our kura are selected based on the results from Friday’s school event. There are restrictions that come from Primary Sport Canterbury on the number of events that children may compete in at zone and Canterbury level. We will be discussing options with children early in the following week.
Year 5
Year 6
Year 7
Year 8
8:55
Roll in hubs then out to the courtyard
9:00
Briefing and warm-up
Mid Distance Runners to Jenny
Rest of children to their first station
9:20 - 10:00
Koru
Mid Distance (optional)
10:00 - 10:45
Koru
High Jump
Shot Put
Discus
Sprints
10:45 - 11:00
Kahikatea
Morning Tea
11:00 - 11:50
Kowhai
Sprints
High Jump
Shot put
Discus
11:50 - 12:40
Discus
Sprints
High Jump
Shot Put
12:40 - 1:15
Lunch - Seniors Eat First
Juniors eat at 1:15
Senior Students - Roll in hubs and then out to next station
Our whole kura athletics day provides an opportunity for our tamariki to participate in an athletics event. Our PE focus in the lessons leading up to this event is on the movement skills required to participate safely and to the best of our ability. The focus of the event is on fun and inclusion. Years 0 to 4 will be participating in a range of games that develop the fundamental movement skills of run, jump and throw, while the year 5 to 8 children will be participating in more traditional track and field events.
This event will go ahead as planned if we are at Alert Level 1. If we are at Alert Level 2, Years 5 - 8 will compete without spectators and events for Years 0 - 4 will be postponed to a time when we are in Level 1.
On the day
Children may wear their house top or their red polo shirt. Children should also wear shoes and clothes that will be suitable for running and jumping, (running shoes and shorts/leggings are ideal). Please ensure that your child has their sun hat and water bottle at school.
The Year 5 - 8 athletics run all day long, starting with the optional mid distance event and followed by track and field rotations. Sprint finals conclude the day. To help with the running of these rotations, we are looking for adult volunteers to work alongside a teacher at our track and field stations. If you are keen to help and available, please email Jenny Diggle (jenny.diggle@beckenham.school.nz).
We welcome spectators in Level one, but please leave dogs at home. There will be an adult team in the house relay so wear your running shoes if you would like to join in on this!
Below is the outline of the programme for the day.
Planning is well underway for the Pōhutukawa camp at Living Springs.
The programme is challenging, stimulating and safe. The activities include: archery tag, “Balanz” bikes, zipline, swimming (heated pool), group initiative challenges, low ropes course, bouldering wall, orienteering, animal survival and recreational activities.
All children will be well supervised and all risks well managed in accordance with our Camp Safety Action Plan and the Living Springs Risk Management Strategies. It will be an exciting learning opportunity for your child. The children will be sleeping in carpeted bunk rooms, which can be heated if required. As well as regular meals, there are two snack times during the day.
We will be leaving from the Pōhutukawa Hub on Wednesday 25th November shortly after the 9:00 am bell. After the camp, we will return to school between 2:30 and 3:00 pm on Friday 27th November. We will wait in the hub for you to pick your child up, along with their gear.
Essential Tasks to Prepare for Camp
Medical Forms
Please complete the Health Profile & Medical Consent Form by Monday 2 November by clicking on the link below and completing the online form. One form needs to be competed for each child who is attending camp. A separate health form will be emailed to our parent helpers soon.
If your child requires personalised medication on camp, please complete the Medicine Authority Form. We will print a copy of the form to be stored with your child's medication whilst on camp. Please put your child’s medicine in a small, clearly named zip lock bag or plastic container and hand the bag/container to Anne Batchelor on Wednesday, 25th November when you drop your child off at school.
If your child has medication that should be kept with them (e.g. an inhaler or travel sickness medication), please put this in your child’s backpack and let your child’s home group teacher know where it is on the morning we leave for camp.
What to bring to Camp
A light backpack for the first day containing:
A snack
Lunch
Drink bottle
A warm and waterproof coat
Sunscreen
Sunhat
Medicine that must be kept with the student (e.g. an inhaler or travel sickness medication)
A larger bag or suitcase containing:
Toiletries – soap, toothbrush, toothpaste etc.
Insect repellent
2 towels (shower and pool)
A pair of walking shoes
A pair of slippers or inside shoes
Socks
Underclothes
Long pants
Shorts
T-shirts
Warm jerseys or bush shirts
A warm hat
Pyjamas
Swimming togs
Lightweight bags for dirty clothes
A pillow
A single fitted bottom sheet for your bed
A warm sleeping bag
A book to read (optional)
Games (small board games or cards only) (optional)
Soft cuddly toy (optional)
If applicable, a plastic container or ziplock bag containing:
Personal medication for the camp medic to look after and administer
Medicine authority form
The following items will not be required and should not be taken on camp:
Money
iPod or MP3/MP4 players
Computers/iPads/tablets
Handheld electronic games
Torches
Chewing gum
Radios
Cell phones
Cameras
Toys
Knives
Please make sure all items are clearly named and that your child will be able to carry their bag themselves. A good idea is to bring the gear list to camp so that they can be checked off when we leave. A paper copy of the gear list will be sent home closer to our departure. If there is something you don’t have, we encourage you borrow it from someone rather than buy it.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact your child's home group teacher.
If your child is a year 6 student they will be taking part in the Cycle Safe Programme at school, during week's 1-3 of term 4.
The Cycle Safe programme is run by the Christchurch City Council and is a cycle skills education programme for schools. Students learn the benefits of cycling and how to ride with confidence and be road-wise. Students will be riding their bike on the road, supervised, around Beckenham School.
Your year 6 child/ren will be participating in this course on one of the following sessions:
Session 1 - Friday 16th & Monday 19th October Session 2 - Tuesday 20th & Friday 23rd October Session 3 - Tuesday 17th & Wednesday 28th October
More information as to the session that your child/ren will be participating will come home via a reminder notice, with your child, at the beginning of term 4.
On these days, students should bring the following to school:
Their bicycle (in good working order)
Their helmet (in good working order)
A lock to secure these items to the school bike racks
Please ensure that your child/ren come/s to school on these days wearing suitable clothing for the weather. If it rains and it is unsuitable for the children to go out on their bicycles, the remaining sessions will be either rescheduled at a suitable later date or be classroom-based.
For those who do not have their own, ten bicycles and helmets are available through the programme.
The Cycle Safe team have recently created some 3-5 minute videos about their programme. We welcome you and your students to view them. Here is a link to a Helmet Fitting video. You can also look on the Cycle Safe page under the videos heading.
Thanks so much for responding to the questionnaire that Sandy and Anne sent out on Monday. We've had an overwhelmingly positive response from you in support of our Year 5/6 learners attending camp in Week 7 next term. Living Springs has confirmed that we will go ahead as long as the Covid alert level stays at Level One or Level Two.
We have also been overwhelmed by the number of you who put yourselves forward to be available for parent help at our camp from November 25th to 27th. Thank you. We are sorry that we can't take everyone who volunteered. The people who will be coming with us are:
Colleen Eason Koleighne Ford Rebecca Carr
Evan McLaughlan Nicole Forster Brett Cooper
Paula Adams-Stace Chris Hunt Jonathan Pooch
Mike GranthamLinda Hakeagaiki Mami Mori
Simon Scott Michelle Boyle Michael de Clifford
If your name is listed above and you are no longer available to attend our camp, please email anne.batchelor@beckenham.school.nz as soon as possible, and we will offer your place to another parent volunteer on the list.
The Covid Pandemic situation has made this term (and year!) more challenging than most. Sandy and the team have discussed the options in terms of fundraising for camp, whilst also trying not to overload our school community. We have decided not to fundraise as a result. If you have any concerns about paying for your child's camp costs and you have not yet communicated this with us, please let Anne Batchelor know.
Early next term we will send out more information about the camp programme of activities and what to bring etc.
We hope you have a restful holiday break, see you in Term 4.
We are excited to be able to provide our students with a visit to Rāpaki marae in Term 4. This is a wonderful opportunity to be able to put into practice what we have been learning this year with Te Reo Māori language, customs (tikanga), games (kēmu) and songs (waiata). We will also be learning about the history of Rāpaki Marae and the ecology of Horomaka, Banks Peninsula.
We are heading to Rāpaki Marae on Wednesday 21st of October and Thursday 22nd October, from 9.30am-2.45pm.
As we are such a large team we are required to visit the marae in two groups. On Wednesday Anne’s home group, Rae’s home group and half of Steve’s home group will visit the marae. On Thursday Anna’s home group, Gayle’s home group and the other half of Steve’s home group will visit the marae.
We will need the help of some adults to enable us to go on this trip. We will be leaving school at 9.00am via bus and we will have an emergency vehicle. If you are interested in assisting us on this trip as an adult supervisor, please email your child’s home group teacher before Friday September 25th. We will contact all adults who have kindly volunteered to help, to confirm whether your help is required.
The cost of this trip will be covered by your annual donation.
For the trip, your child will need to be in comfortable footwear and in school uniform. They should bring a jacket in case of inclement weather. If your child suffers from asthma, please ensure they have their medication with them in a named plastic bag, with instructions about administration. Your child needs to give this to their class teacher prior to departure.
On the day, students will need to wear school uniform and bring:
A water bottle
A substantial morning tea and lunch
A warm layer of clothing (especially a windproof jacket)
Please note there will be no postponement day if the weather is unsuitable. An email message will be sent out at 8am on the day, if the trip is being cancelled.
Many thanks for the help and support, and we look forward to an amazing trip.
Thanks to all of our parent help volunteers! Below is a timetable of who is helping when. We will head straight to the ponds as a hub after we have completed the roll (approximately 9 am).
9-9.45am: Group 1 Rachael, Chontelle, Bel, Kathie and Mike with River
9.45-10.30am: Group 2 Chontelle, Bel and Kathie with Beach
10.30 - 10.50 break time (whole school)
11- 11.45am: Group 3 Stephanie and Chontelle with Lake
11.45am - 12.30pm: Group 4 Stephanie, Nicola and Chontelle with Forest
Alpine will be split into 4 groups and join the other groups.
Please note that if your child has gumboots or gardening gloves then we suggest that they bring them along on Wednesday.
We look forward to seeing you there, here's hoping for fine weather!
There has been a lot of discussion among the children this morning about the viral Tik Tok video that has been in circulation online and that Sandy alluded to in her email to you this morning. Sandy came in and talked to all of the children after morning tea and reminded them of the importance of keeping safe online. We reiterated to them that talking to their peers about this isn't a healthy thing, and that talking to their parents is important. We encouraged them to talk to you if they have any concerns about anything they may have seen, or heard other children talking about.
We are always monitoring the searches and material that the children are accessing using their school accounts, and will continue to do so. If your child is bringing a phone to school, please remind them to drop it at the office before school starts, and to collect it again at the end of the day.
This is a timely reminder to us all that the minimum age for most of these platforms is at least 13 years old.
We know there are a number of you who have said to your children that they are too young for a phone and / or any of these online social media accounts. Please do not think that you are alone in taking a firm stand on this, many parents in the Pōhutukawa Hub have told us that their children do not have a phone or social media accounts, even though your child may tell you otherwise!
As always, please don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any concerns or would like to discuss anything further.
Sally Airey (our Healthy Ōpāwaho faciltator) has organised and invited Pōhutakawa to complete planting at the ponds on Wednesday September 16th, supported by local CCC rangers and a river volunteer (and expert). It'll be an awesome opportunity to make a difference to our local environment, and is being held as part of our annual Clean Up Week at Beckenham Te Kura o Pūroto.
Groups of 30 children and their teacher will attend the ponds, listen to a local plant expert, and undertake planting at these intervals:
9-9.45am: Group 1 9.45-10.30am: Group 2 10.30 - 10.50 break time (whole school) 11- 11.45am: Group 3 11.45am - 12.30pm: Group 4
We would be very grateful if we could have some parent help volunteers for some or all of this time. At least two parents per time slot would be very much appreciated. Please can you email Anne at anne.batchelor@beckenham.school.nz if you are available for some or all of this time. Thanks very much for your support.
Just a couple of reminders about up and coming events for our learners in the next few weeks.
Wacky Hair Day
Next Friday, 4th September, is Wacky Hair Day
Wear mufti and wacky hair, a wig or a hat
Please bring a gold coin or two to support the Child Cancer Foundation.
From the Student Council
Staff Only Day
As per our school calendar, school will be closed this coming Monday August 31st for a Staff Only Day.
Winter Sport
This week is the final week of winter sport - thanks to all of you who have supported our teams. Please remember that at Level 2 we are asking you to refrain from coming along to watch the games. Thanks for your understanding.
We are following Sport Canterbury's lead on our decision around winter sport for the remaining two weeks. Secondary school sport has resumed with no spectators and contact tracing.
We have been in consultation with the other schools in our zone and we feel confident that we can go ahead with this week's games. We have existing systems in place that will enable us to easily identify who was where should the need for contact tracing arise. We ask that you refrain from spectating this Thursday's game.
Please complete the Google form below if you are available to come along as a Parent Helper for our Term 4 camp. This form needs to be completed by Friday, August 14th please.
Great news! Planning is underway for our Pōhutukawa Camp at Living Springs. The camp will run for three days and two nights from Wednesday the 25th to Friday the 27th of November, which is in week 7 of Term 4.
The cost of camp is likely to be no more than $180 per child. You can start making contributions for this as soon as you are able to, by setting up a small automatic payment. If you set that up this week, $9.50 per week would ensure that your contribution towards camp was fully paid by the time camp happens. To set up an automatic payment, please copy the school’s bank account number:
12-3148-0131641-00 into your internet banking and use your child’s name and 'Y5/6Camp' as the reference.
We will be needing some parent helpers for the camp, and will be putting out the call for parents who may be interested and available early next term. Next term you will receive more information about the camp, as we firm up the camp programme of activities.
We hope you have a restful and fun filled holiday break.
What a busy term we have had! Winter Sport
We've been very unlucky with the weather this term for winter sport. Thanks to all of you who put your names forward to help with winter sport development and competitive teams. We are continuing next term on Thursdays - if you are unavailable to help next term please let us know, otherwise we look forward to working alongside you again in term three.
Learning Conferences
Thanks so much for booking in for the learning conferences. We are looking forward to supporting all our learners to share their learning with you. The weeks since returning to school after the Rāhui have flown by. Below is some information on what we have been up to.
In recent weeks, our focus at writing time has been on identifying, understanding the grammatical structure of and creating simple, compound and complex sentences. The children have been self assessing their writing skills in this context and will share more with you about this at the learning conferences this week.
A large amount of time and focus has been directed at the area of place value in mathematics. Place value is an area of the mathematics curriculum that will be covered every academic year through primary and secondary school, with a view to building upon previous knowledge. An understanding of place value forms the basis of many areas of mathematical understanding. Initially the focus might be on place value columns and reading numbers accurately, then it develops to being able to quickly identify the number of tens, hundreds, thousands and so on in numbers, in conjunction with using place value knowledge and understanding to manipulate numbers in addition and subtraction calculations, for example.
Another area of focus in mathematics this term has been tracking both reasoning and recall ability in relation to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. The children have done a great job of assessing their abilities in this area, and setting some goals for future focus. They will be sharing this with you at their learning conferences, and we will have some work that you can continue at home to support our learners in achieving these goals. Rob has created a brief video below to help you to understand the tracker system that we are using. The children are experts at this, so they will also be able to help!
At reading time we have been working on a variety of activities in order to support our learners to accurately decode what they are reading, comprehend the author's meaning, and analyse the text to develop their understanding. The children are becoming more confident in discussing what they have read with others too.
Term 3
Our focus for term 3 and beyond is to support the children to become more "assessment capable" as learners. This involves unpacking assessments of their learning in reading, writing and mathematics to look at strengths and next steps, and supporting each learner to develop confidence in assessing themselves against goals that they have agreed upon with their teacher. This will ensure that each child is being extended, whatever their level.
Hand washing
We are in the season for colds and flu at the moment, and we have had many children away sick recently. We continue to encourage the children to wash their hands before they eat, and hand sanitiser is available at school for those who wish to use it. We are aware of the environmental impact of very regular had washing - if you would like to send your child to school with their own personal hand towel in their bag for use at hand washing time, we will support them to use it.
We hope you have a fun filled and restful holiday, and look forward to seeing everyone relaxed and refreshed next term.
WE NEED YOU! We are on the look out for some parent helpers to help with the development squads for football, hockey, netball. There would be NO REQUIREMENT TO REFEREE! We really just need extra adults to help encourage and run fitness drills and general ball skills so that the children get the support and attention that they need to improve. This would be for the next three weeks from 1.45 pm to 2.45 pm every Thursday. If you can help, please email anne.batchelor@beckenham.school.nz.
We are currently working with schools in our zone, Sport Canterbury and other local sporting bodies to plan for what competitive sporting options might look like this year. All planning for sports will follow the guidelines as set out by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education. Given the current climate, we may need to adapt and change plans, (possibly last minute), as new guidelines and instructions are released by the government. We will endeavour to keep you up to date. Winter SportAll children will be involved in winter sport. This week the children have been asked to fill in a survey asking their preference of sports and asking them to choose between development or competitive.
The sports that the children were asked to choose between were netball, hockey, football, rugby, badminton (development only) and table tennis (this is also looking like it would be for development only due to low take-up from other schools).
You may like to talk with your child about the options that they selected. If they feel like they made a mistake on the form, please email Anne.
Development teams have a focus on developing technical skill within a low-pressure and non-competitive environment. Games will be against their peers and have a focus on fun.
Competitive teams have a focus on developing technical skill and a focus on preparation for competition. Government guidelines permitting, they will compete against other schools in our zone.
Competitive Winter Sport
We are currently planning a zone-based winter sport option for 2020. This replaces travelling to Hagley and Nuweek Parks and involves competitive games against teams from our zone, utilising local parks and schools. This plan reduces the need to travel across town, minimises the number of people that the children come into contact with and makes contact tracing easier.
Winter Tournament
No information at this time
Cross Country
Currently, Sports Canterbury is looking at the beginning of term 3 for a Canterbury level event. Our Zone is currently looking at week 12 as a possible time for our Zone competition, making week 10 a logical time for our school-based event. We are still working through what this will look like. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that a whole school event will be possible. Training for cross country will start for children Years 5 to 8 next week. This gives the children time to prepare physically and mentally for this challenge.
Year 0 - 4 Cross Country
No information at this time Basketball
Pioneer will be running 3 on 3 games for four weeks in term 2. These will be played on a half-court. To keep the numbers down, no spectators will be allowed inside the gym as spectators. One adult per team will be allowed in the gym to manage the team. From term 3, the hope is that the usual 5 on 5 games may resume.
Canterbury Swimming and Canterbury Duathlon
There is a possibility that these events may run in term 4. This can not be confirmed yet.
Here is a link to a survey re Winter Sports for our Pōhutukawa learners. We are still firming up what our options however it would be very helpful to get an indication of what support you may be able to offer. We would greatly appreciate it if you could complete the survey as soon as possible.
We are SO excited about seeing your children back at school on Monday! As I am sure you are aware, things will be a little bit different at school compared to "normal". If you haven't already, please watch our Welcome Back to School Video (below) with your family, so you and the children know what to expect.
Also, in error, the wee video that Anne, Steve, Kerilea and Kate made was left out by mistake, so here it is!
Just a few important reminders for next week - your child will need a named drink bottle full of water at school each day. If your child arrives at school without a water bottle we will be phoning you and asking you to drop one in as there are no operational water fountains at school in Level 2. Drink bottles and lunch boxes will be kept in the cubbies with bags.
If your child has borrowed a school device for the lockdown period, please bring it back to school on Monday and take it straight to the verandah outside the library where you can sign it back in. If your child uses a skateboard to travel to and from school, these will now be stored in the locked bike stand area on Sandwich Rd - they need to be there by 9am at the latest, which is when the area is locked. They will be stored there at your own risk.
If your child has any skin sensitivities or allergies and you are concerned about the use of hand sanitiser and / or school soap, please feel free to send your child to school with their own products to use. If you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to contact your child's home group teacher.
Here is a video outlining the drop off and pick up procedures at school for the time that we are operating in Level 2. We appreciate your support with this.
Here we are at the end of another week of distance learning! Thanks again for all of your great work supporting your child(ren) in their distance learning. Keep on sending that work through to us - we love to receive it!
We will be having our second social Zoom call for our Pōhutukawa Hub Learners on Monday May 11th at 11am. If your child would like to join us and their friends for a catch up, please email your child's home group teacher and we will send you the link. Just to clarify, the reason we do not automatically send out the Zoom link to all our learners is because we want to ensure that they have your permission and support to be on the call. Please also ensure that the username that your child will be using to join the call clearly has your child's name or family name visible. As an extra security measure we use a waiting room in Zoom, so that we can ensure that only Pōhutukawa learners are able to join the call. If we cannot identify a potential attendee, we cannot admit them. We appreciate your support with this.
Here is this week's celebration assembly, we hope you enjoy watching it!
Well done everyone for making it through Level Four and also working through the first week of distance learning at Level Three. By now we are all settled into our home learning / distance learning routines. Thank you for all of the positive feedback on our Pōhutukawa Hub Website. We hope that you are continuing to enjoy the variety of learning challenges that we offer each day.
Distance Learning
We are really enjoying receiving work that the children have been creating. It's great to see photos and videos of their learning too - they help us feel connected with you! Please also remind your child(ren) to click the submit button on any work that they have completed in Google classroom - that way we get a notification and know that the work requires our attention and feedback. We continue to strive to offer a variety of learning activities that will suit each family and their different circumstances. We are very happy to see that the majority of our learners are completing at least one learning challenge from our site each day, as well as using the site (and other resources) to complete numeracy and literacy learning daily. Remember to check the Sharing Our Learning section in our Pōhutukawa Google Classroom stream so that you can see what everyone has been up to! Keep up the great work everyone, and remember we are here to help if you or your child need support with their learning.
If you feel it would be beneficial for us to call you or use Zoom to connect with you and your child about their learning, please email you child's home group teacher and we will set up a time in the school day that suits. Please keep in mind that Steve will be on site at school next Tuesday and Thursday and Anna will be on site on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On these particular days they are busy working with children at school, and so will contact you on the days that they are working from home.
Using Zoom for Learning meetings with students
Last week we opened up Zoom to our Google Suite for students. Our teachers have been using Zoom for their meetings, and find this platform to be far superior to the similar option of Google Meet which some teachers had been using with the children.
Please be aware that your child's security is a top priority for us. To that end, we have the following procedures in place, and we ask you to monitor (as always) what your child is using their school account for at home.
All Zoom meetings with staff and students will be recorded by the staff member.
Staff have enabled Zoom 'waiting rooms' meaning that students cannot begin a meeting without the teacher who created the meeting being in the room.
Students should ideally be in a room where you can at least see them, when they are in a zoom conference. (Bedrooms and bathrooms are not appropriate places for children to be when using social / meeting platforms.)
Please remind your child that their Google accounts are for school and learning use only. This means that they should not be using their student accounts to engage in Zoom or Google Meets with one another for social purposes.
We are, however, aware that the children are missing the social connection with their friends that being at school usually provides. With this in mind, we will be holding a Zoom session on Wednesday May 6th at 11am so that any learners who are missing that social connection with their teachers and friends can connect with us. If your child is interested in attending the Zoom (with your support) please email your child's home group teacher and we will send you the login and password. Please click on the link below for some helpful tips on Zoom Protocol.
We have a Celebration Assembly video to share with you - please have a look below! The video is best viewed in full screen.
Cybersafety at Home When Using School Google Log ins
As you may be aware from the school cyber safety agreement, Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto has various cyber safety systems in place in order to keep students safe. We have one system called “Highlights” that we would like you to be particularly mindful of during lockdown.
This system allows teachers to see Chromebook screens and/or Chrome browser tabs whenever that device or browser is signed into a school Google account during school hours. This is an important tool that teachers use to keep students safe and to offer support while students are learning. It also has privacy implications and is one of the main reasons we always ask and remind students to only use their school account for learning purposes. If you want your child to use their personal device/browser for other purposes or without the school cyber safety systems in place, then it is important that students sign out of their school account and sign into a personal account created by you. If your child has borrowed a school Chromebook, they should only be using this with their school login and for learning purposes.
We also utilise a specialised web filtering system to help keep our students safe online. This filter automatically alerts staff whenever a student account is potentially being used to access unsafe content on the internet. Like Highlights, this filter system is active whenever a student is signed into their school account, even if they are at home. If we receive a concerning filter alert during lockdown, we will contact you via email.
It is important to note that teachers never rely on just the filtering system. We work hard to actively monitor students’ screens and always ask students to work in a place where their screens are visible. We strongly encourage you to adopt a similar approach at home by making sure children only use devices in a family area where they can be easily seen. We also encourage you to actively check that your child/children are using the device in a safe and positive manner.
Junior Neighbourhood Support Canterbury challenges you to…
Make a Stop Motion Lego Movie!
You can use lego or other toys to share one part of your Covid-19 isolation time. Some ideas for experience to share include (but are not limited to):
Keeping 2m away
Going to the supermarket
Staying at home
Leaving the house for exercise
Easter or ANZAC Day 2020
Send your entries to jns@canterburyns.net before Level 2 ends and we’ll put them into a movie that everyone can watch. If you need some help getting started with Stop Motion, have a look at https://www.instructables.com/id/Stop-Motion-Animation-for-Kids/
Stop Motion Studio is a popular Apple and Android app to use to film and you should only need the free version. If you are using a Chromebook, you may like to try Stop Motion Animator (from the Chrome Web Store).
Thanks again whānau for your support and collaboration in these times. Have a great weekend everyone!
Kia ora koutou,
We hope you are well. Please note that we have shared another video with a hello from all of the hub teachers and an update on what we have been doing this week to keep busy! If you could please let your child know to have a look in their Pōhutukawa Google Classroom they will find the video there.
Many thanks,
The Pōhutukawa Team
Kia ora whānau,
We hope that you are all well and enjoying a holiday break in our "new normality". This is just a short note to let you know that we've sent your child(ren) a video to say hello - they will find it in the Pōhutukawa Class in Google Classroom. We know not all of the children will be checking their school email accounts, so if you could let your child know to head to Classroom when you have time and check it out, we'd greatly appreciate it.
Ngā mihi nui,
Anne, Rae, Anna, Steve, Gayle and Kerilea
A huge congratulations to all of the children who took part in our Duathlon on Friday. The Year 5 and 6 children made up 70% of all entrants in the race - we were so proud to see so many of our learners taking part and living our Beckenham te Kura o Pūroto value "We Love Challenge."
COVID-19
We are in unprecedented times with the COVID-19 global pandemic. Our focus at school remains on learning, keeping life as normal as possible for our learners, and ensuring good hygiene practices across the hub.
For our school, our pandemic plan is ready to be implemented if needed. In the mean time we will continue to focus on good hygiene practices. Hand washing and good cough etiquette are very important tools in preventing the spread of illness including colds, flu and COVID-19. We will be supervising the children as they wash their hands prior to eating at morning tea and lunch times.
With that, there is a good video clip from Nanogirl that will help your children to better understand the virus - YouTube clip - Nanogirl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPsY-jLqaXM
One other action we can all take is to be vigilant about our own health and the health of our children. Sandy is encouraging staff to stay away from school if they are showing signs of illness such as coughs and colds. We ask that you please do the same with your children. Colds and flus are common in schools and by staying away, seeking medical attention and practicing good hygiene, we can all keep any spread of illness to a minimum.
Fair Cancellation
Thanks so much for your support and understanding around the difficult yet necessary decision to cancel the school fair. Our wonderful PTA are using the Komanawa space to display the art works created by our learners for the fair. These will be available for auction - please feel free to pop in and have a look at them after school any day this week. There are also many mystery bottles for sale, and the silent auctions and raffle are still running.
Please, follow this link to indicate if you are able to help out with sport this term.
The aim of our sports programme is to provide exposure to a range of different sporting pursuits. This allows the children to develop movement skills and sequences in a range of contexts while broadening their horizons and discovering their passions. There are a range of events throughout the year. Some of these involve all the children and there are many additional optional opportunities for those who want to extend themselves. Children who enjoy the competitive element of sport can strive to qualify for zone and Canterbury level competition through Primary School Sport Canterbury. If your child is not able to compete for any reason, there are a myriad of alternative ways to be involved. Inclusive practise is always at the heart of what we do. If there is anything that we can do to make an event more accessible for your child, please get in contact with Jenny or your child’s homeroom teacher.
For some optional events, children interested in competing should enter using a Google form, which is accessed through Google Classroom. We aim for the children to develop independence in entering events and we acknowledge that some children may need support with this. Conversations at home about upcoming optional events that may be of interest, and checking in to ensure that they have entered events you would expect them to, is advisable. I have attached the link to entry forms for both swimming and duathlon so that you can go through the process together if needed.
Term 1
Swimming Sports Thursday 27th February
This is an optional event, which takes place at Wharenui Pool. Children may enter one distance per stroke and as many different strokes as they wish. For example, they may enter 25m freestyle and 50m backstroke, but may not enter the 25m and 50m backstroke. The children enter this event via a Google form. This form has been made available to them through Google Classroom. Follow this link to get to the entry form.
Duathlon
Participating in the school duathlon is a fantastic way of showing our school value, ‘We love challenge’. It involves a run around the block, a bike around the park (2 slalom laps for Year 7/8), followed by a second lap of running around the block. The sense of achievement when crossing the finish line makes the hard work worth while. Children need to provide their own bike for this event. Here is the link to the Google form for entries.
Extra-Curricular Sports - Mountain Biking
There are two mountain biking relays that have been very popular in previous years. While these events are promoted by Beckenham te Kura O Pūroto and we are proud for the children to represent our kura, the responsibility of the transport and supervision of children at both events is with the caregiver. Entry for both of these events is done by the caregiver on the event’s website. Follow the link below. Please contact Jenny if you have any questions about either of these events. Email confirmation of your entry to Jenny.
Held at Mclean’s Island, this event is a super fun event where children strive to complete as many laps of the course as they can in the time, (1.5 hours for Year 5/6 and 3 hours for Year 7/8). Year 5/6 children must compete in a team of two, while Year 7/8 have the option of doing the event as an individual or in a pair. Children should be confident controlling the speed and direction of their bike on beginner level single track.
Note: This event is much earlier in the term than it previously has been.
Due to its popularity, this event is now being held over two days. Children from Beckenham should enter the South and Mid Canterbury zoned event on the 4th of March.
Hanmer 4 Hour Mountain Bike Relay - 21st March
This event features a variety of options for many age groups. The Super Juniors (6 to 11 years) do a very friendly course through the Heritage Forest. This incorporates a green level single track. Every child must have their own tail end charlie, (an adult riding with them) on every lap. This is a fantastic entry into mountain bike racing for those children who are comfortable controlling their speed and direction on trails similar to those at McLean’s Island and Bottle Lake. Children aged 11 years plus ride the same course as the adults, (and at the same time). This course has more climbing and more technical riding, (think Loess Rider or an easy blue level trail). Children should be confident mountain bikers on easy blue trails. Children compete in a team of up to 4 children.
